Bears safety Jonathan Owens is in France to support his wife, Simone Biles, and Team USA women's gymnastics at the 2024 Paris Olympics. Check out the his postcard to read about his experience witnessing Biles win a gold medal at the team final Tuesday.
2024 Paris Olympics: Postcards with Jonathan Owens | July 31
As told to Gabby Hajduk
What's up Bears fans,
It's Day 2 in Paris and I'm actually coming to y'all from underneath the Eiffel Tower. I really feel like I'm in Paris now.
We'll get back to that later, but first, yesterday was crazy. As everyone knows, Simone and Team USA gymnastics took gold in the team final, so let me tell you about my experience.
I touched down in France at about 11:30 a.m. local time, so the middle of the morning back in Chicago. My flight got delayed a bit, but I was able to sleep through the whole thing and feel energized for the day, As soon as I landed, I got a cheeseburger and fries — I'm in France, of course you got to get some French fries.
After I got settled at the hotel, I walked around the city for an hour, just being a tourist and soaking it all in. I did a little shopping, because you've got to shop in Paris. The heat is no joke, though. It's like I never left Chicago.
I headed to the team final around 4:45 p.m. It was pretty crazy there — the lines outside were packed. It was like going through a maze. I got in there around 5:30, took my seat with Simone's family and waited for the competition to start at 6:15.
My nerves were definitely at a 10. It helps that I'm sitting with Simone's mom, because we can't both be stressed out so I had to play it cool for her. Before the competition started, Simone and I had our calming moment. At first, she couldn't find us in the stands because we were in a different area than where her parents sat during qualifying.
I could see her looking through the crowd to find us so I was just waving my hand like crazy. Her coach finally saw us and pointed us out, so we got to lock eyes, blow kisses to each other and have that special moment – just the two of us.
The good thing was Team USA started on vault. I know that was a good confidence builder for Simone rather than starting on beam where things can get the shakiest.
Vault was great, then came uneven bars, balance beam and finally, floor exercise. It was pretty dope because floor was the last rotation and Simone was the last one to go. The whole stadium was watching her routine and that was basically to solidify gold for the team. It was so cool to see everybody watching her, everyone in the stands recording her routine.
When she finished, some of the gymnasts from other teams were like, "can we get a picture with Simone?" That was just funny to me because aren't y'all the competition? It's just such a different vibe than when we play football. But it was super cool to see everyone around her. I was just super happy for Simone.
Seeing the medal ceremony was an unreal experience. They played the national anthem as the team stood on the podium. It was incredible. You could feel their excitement and I was just overjoyed for them.
I got to witness my wife win a gold medal, so it was amazing that I was able to be there to support her. I'll never forget that moment.
Simone has eight Olympic medals now, so she passed Shannon Miller as the most decorated USA gymnast. Witnessing that was so exciting. Man, she's just breaking records every time she steps on the floor now.
After the ceremony ended, a bunch of families from Team USA all went to a restaurant to wait for the team. We were standing outside waiting and I said to Simone's mom, "okay, you get your hug and picture first."
But when Simone got off the bus and we looked at each other, I couldn't help it. I just ran over to her.
We hadn't seen each other in weeks. I was just so overjoyed to be able to see her, hug her and congratulate her. I'm just so proud of her. They went out and did such an amazing job and came back with gold.
It was amazing for me and Simone's family to be able to celebrate that moment with her. We were all taking pictures and Simone was like, "babe, put the medal on!" That was so dope because how many people get to say they held an Olympic gold medal? I tell you what though, it's a lot heavier than you would think.
Now, it's on to the all-around final which is Thursday night. That's the big one for Simone. She really wants to lock in on that because it's what sets her apart. The individual events are obviously big too, but I know the all-around is what she's really striving to be the best in. I can't wait to see her out there.
With Simone preparing for tomorrow, I spent today doing some sightseeing around the city. I saw the Louvre and plan on going back tomorrow to actually go inside. I just walked around the city and then took this little bicycle carriage to the Eiffel Tower. The tour guide took me on a scenic route through the city and it was just beautiful.
I do just want to say thank you to all the Bears fans and my team for supporting Simone this week. It feels really good when guys are reaching out like, "hey man, praying for you, safe travels." It's so nice because if you don't have the support from your people, what are you really doing it for?
The team hit me up yesterday, asking for pictures to show in the team meeting. The biggest thing I can say is it just feels good.
This whole experience continues to be so surreal and like I said, I'm just so happy for Simone. I can't wait to see what else is in store this week.
Go Team USA!
Jonathan Owens
